Hyde5: Five thoughts on Tannehill's good progress

October 8, 2012|Dave Hyde

1. Tannehill's 91.4 quarterback rating for fourth quarters ranks 11th in the NFL. That's behind Aaron Rodgers and ahead of Joe Flacco. You can understand that's pretty heady company without getting too carried away after five games. For instance, he had a perfect quarterback rating of 158.3 in Arizona (4-5, 127 yds, 1 touchdown) that shot up the mark. He had a 69.9 percent against Cincinnati (4-7, 34, yds). Here's the bottom-line from this: In so many tight games, he's played well down the stretch. He doesn't wilt at all in pressure moments.

2. Joe Philbin on Tannehill's progress: “I think the film shows that he’s getting better. I think his command was good yesterday. I thought his decision making was good, threw the ball accurately, thought he had poise and, if you watch the tape, he looked like a pretty good quarterback. I was pleased with how he played yesterday. I think there’s some signs of development there.”

3. What QB rating do you want? The gold standard of the classic quarterback rating puts Tannehill 29th in the league with a 70.4 rating (between Russell Wilson and Mark Sanchez). The newfangled ESPN QB rating has him 19th with a 54.0 (the numbers don't compare to the classic rating; on this one, he's between Matthew Stafford and Jay Cutler). The Pro Football Focus QB rating that plays off the classic NFL formula but takes into account drops, throwaways and spikes puts him at 21st with a 82.63 rating (between Michael Vick and Sam Bradford.) But let's remember, by all accounts, his first two games were numerically bad. His past two games, he's played good games.

4. Mike Sherman on Tannehill's progress: “I think his decision making has definitely improved over the last couple of weeks. Each game we go into and come out of less and less of us being critical of his decisions. He’s made some very good decisions here as of late. The other thing I would say would be, push in the pocket. He had the tendency to leave the pocket with depth. Now he's stepping up in the pocket and finding throws to make. He had a great throw to (Davone) Bess on a scramble in the game. He’s created some plays with his feet by pushing up in the pocket. Yeah I would say those two areas, push in the pocket and decision making have definitely improved.”

5. Sherman on if Tannehill's ability to throw on the run was evident in college: “It’s also something that we practice here. When a play breaks down in practice we don’t stop. We keep working and I think they know, the receivers, when you have a quarterback who you know will extend the play with his feet and his arm, you have a tendency to really work harder and try to get open. That’s been the case a couple of times, and he's a very accurate thrower on the run. Sometimes those throws aren’t the easiest when you’re running away from a 295 pound defensive end chasing you down. To make that accuracy is not the easiest thing. But I thought he did a great job of not only pushing the pocket, escaping the rush, but then finding the receiver and making some big plays. I thought it was his best game.”